Dying to Live
by MufasaToSoar
Summary: The sequel to The One from the West. It has been some time since they came. Now, the past has caught up to one of the enlarged group, and it will affect all of them in one way or another. And relationships are revealed.
1. Chapter 1

**I am back. Not much more to say, really.**

 **MufasaToSoar out.**

 _Entry #549_

 _It has been two years since I have last written here. I know that the last entry should've been the last, but I needed to write something for now._

 _Since that time, I have learnt alongside my sister, Tigress, in the Tiger style of kung fu. While she once doubted her ability to teach me one time, I only gave her support along with her then-boyfriend, Po. And while I am far below from being a master, I am far above from a novice with the help of herself and Master Shifu._

 _Since then, Po and Tigress have married and are currently expecting a child. When the news came, the two were the happiest out of everyone. And that's saying something, as all were the happiest they could be then._

 _Right now, though, I cannot get a feeling off my mind. Like something is going to happen. Something bad. And that is the reason why I had to write now, to voice my thoughts because this feeling has reached a point where it cannot be ignored._

Tiger closed his journal and placed it underneath the cot he was sitting against. He wasn't feeling the best he could be. It was true that he felt something bad was going to happen.

But he couldn't think by just sitting around. He got his loose woollen shirt on and left his room. Since it was the middle of the night, the rest were sleeping. He walked through the barracks, being as quiet as possible. It was so quiet, he could hear the snores.

He made it out of the barracks and sat down in the peaceful garden just outside the training area. He looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, emitting the second lowest amount of moonlight possible.

His ear picked up a sound. It was tiny, but it was heard. The lightest of footsteps was coming towards him. He just pretended to stay ignorant of the fact and continued to stare at the moon.

The footsteps came close. Tiger decided to take this small opportunity. He quickly rolled forwards, spun and leapt forwards on all fours. He kicked forwards, hitting a robed figure in the left shoulder. While the figure recuperated from the attack, Tiger leapt away and stared them down.

Whoever this person is, they sure do know how to use strange weapons. A shield was on their right hand, the very rim gleaming in the moonlight. And the robe and hood didn't do much to give any details away, either. But he wasn't stupid as to who this mystery person is.

It was the legendary assassin of traitors and generals. It was Steelmoon.

He growled, trying to scare Steelmoon. But he knew it wouldn't work too much. It was said that Steelmoon faced over one thousand troops once to kill a target and wasn't deterred. What was it going to take?

Tiger charged, sending a rapid punch to the face, or where he hoped the face was. Steelmoon just stood there, the shield by his side. When the punch came, Steelmoon leant slightly to Tiger's left and sliced towards him with the shield. The rim was sent across the shirt and skin, but both were cut. Tiger shuffled back, grunting in pain and clutching the cut. Blood seeped out of the wound and stained the shirt he wore red.

He looked up at Steelmoon, growling at him more voraciously and having a predatory look in his eyes. He lunged, sending a intermediate amount of punches and kicks, most of which were dodged. Those that did hit, however, were glancing blows and barely affected the assassin. When Steelmoon struck forth with twirling cuts and spinning slashes of the shield rim, Tiger weaved this way through the gaps and struck with whatever he could.

This trading of blows brought Tiger against the wall of the courtyard. Steelmoon went to punch him, the sharp rim now coated in a thin layer of Tiger's blood. Tiger closed one hand around Steelmoon's wrist, the other on the centre of the shield. Both wrestled in that position, trying to gain the upper.

Tiger heard a click, but it was too late. As soon as he heard it, a sharp pain was in his stomach. He let go, the pain worsening when he did so. He looked down, seeing a blade in his stomach. He began to breathe harder to get the same amount of air.

When the blade was quickly pulled out, he let out a scream that could've woken the dead from their unwakable slumber.

The rest of the occupants, the exception being Tigress, all woke to the blood curdling scream. They all ran to where they thought the scream came from, which was near where they all trained in kung fu. There, they saw Tiger lying against a wall in a feeble position in a pool of his own blood. Tiger was immediately wrapped in makeshift bandages that they made from the leaves.

When Romeo came down to pick Tiger up, the feline reached up and pulled the ram down to come eye to eye with him.

"It... It was ssss... Steelmoon." Tiger whispered out with great effort.

Romeo stood back up and stepped a few paces backwards. Po ended up picking Tiger up and carried him quickly over to his room in the barracks. Krynn came up to the shocked Romeo, who was still standing there.

"Why did you let my son lie there?" She asked, her voice dripping with threatening intent.

"He said 'it was Steelmoon.' He must've attacked Tiger when he was out here." Romeo replied.

Krynn shuffled back, shaking her head in disbelief. Tears started to cloud her vision and her legs gave way from under her. Krynn just sat there on the dirt, crying into her palms. Romeo carefully pulled her up and softly guided her back to the barracks, where they are sure the others would've put Tiger.

A really short time later:

They placed Tiger into the cot, his shirt was thrown aside, his wounds now dressed and treated properly. Most of them were silent, except for both Tigress and Krynn since both were softly crying to themselves. Krynn was sitting close to Tiger's head, softly stroking the fur on the face with love and care.

"What happened to him?" Monkey asked, being unnaturally serious.

Romeo groaned and lowered his head slightly. Crane turned his head towards the ram.

"Have something to say, Romeo?" Crane questioned, garnering the attention to the rest.

Romeo sighed, shifting his weight. "Tiger told me that it was Steelmoon. Steelmoon is an assassin of legend, the assassin of traitors of the highest order and of the greatest enemy generals. It is said that he has the very ability to walk in complete silence, even on chalked ground. No one knows exactly what he looks like, only that he can blend into anything anywhere." Romeo explained. He motioned with his head towards Tiger. "Those wounds are of Steelmoon's very weapon. We do not know what it is, but it has killed many."

"So this 'Steelmoon' guy thinks he can kill a piece of our family?" Mantis asked, extremely angered for his small size.

"Obviously thinks so. We'll get 'im." Po said.

Three of the Furious Five and Po all ran out, leaving Shifu, Tigress, Viper, Romeo and Krynn all in the room with Tiger. Romeo sat on the floor, beside Tigress. Shifu walked out, leaving only four in there. Tiger began to breathe heavier, his chest heaving with each breath and a sweat forming on each and every laboured breath he took. He began to shake violently, attempting to break or roll off the cot he was laid upon. Romeo quickly stood back up and held the male feline down by the arms. It took three minutes, but Tiger stopped shaking.

But when Romeo was almost about to sit back down, he noticed something. A bronze glow, or specifically, a lack of it. He laid down onto his stomach and checked underneath the cot. He never found the journal that Tiger prized to himself. Romeo pulled himself out and up.

"What were you searching for, Romeo?" Krynn asked, slightly detached from herself.

"Tiger's journal." Romeo explained. Krynn's hand stopped patting her son's face and her eyes looked at the ram. "It's gone."

Steelmoon came out of the village and into the outskirts, the hood still up. The assassin dashed across the empty dirt road, leaving only a light footprint.

When the heavens finally decided to shed its load of rain, Steelmoon was out of the vicinity and in the mountain range, finding a cave rather quickly.

Taking the shield that gave the assassin their name very carefully off, Steelmoon sat down and leant against the cave wall. Steelmoon didn't worry about the cold temperatures of the night. The clothes they wore would protect them from the cold.

But Steelmoon couldn't breathe properly right now. Raising gloved hands, Steelmoon removed the hood and face mask, revealing a lioness with golden fur and the greyest of eye colours. She picked out a book she retrieved from her recent target's chambers here, the outer borders covered in bronze embroidery.

She opened it up to the first page, revealing that it was a journal.

'How very interesting.' She thought, smiling to herself.

She closed the journal and pulled the hood back up. She closed her eyes and moved herself into a comfortable position for a sleep after the hardest part of the mission.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: A following lullaby in this chapter may be ideologically sensitive to those who aren't a part of any Chrsitian faith. You have been warned. And I am sorry, I had to put something with the feels in here.**

Steelmoon noticed the people behind her. She felt them coming from many leagues away. She had to find a place to be and ditch her equipment.

On her way through a pass, she ducked into yet another cave and hid in there. She threw her shield off and undressed from her assassin robes to the robes she can blend into this society with. She dashed out and leapt into the nearby village, where soothing music hung constantly in the air. She swiped a straw hat on the way past and placed it upon her head, allowing her to blend in.

She quickly sat down on a nearby bench, keeping her head lowered so that the straw hat covered her face. She saw four other animals run by five minutes later. Well, three were running and one was hitching a ride. They ran right past her, oblivious to her real purpose. When they were gone and she looked around to see if they have doubled back or are watching, Steelmoon stood up and made her way back to the cave when she left her equipment in.

When she made it back and her stuff was on, she opened the journal and read the juicy stuff on the first page. It was an eight year old's writing, occasional misspelt words and sloppy line work. When she flipped through the pages more, not reading the contents, Steelmoon saw that they were becoming more and more sophisticated, more befitting those with many decades of writing than with something just less than 20 years.

The pages soon became blank just before the 550th entry. It ended at 549. Steelmoon closed the book rather roughly and placed it within a pouch she keeps for incriminating evidence. She pulled her hood and face mask up then placed her shield on her right hand. Sensing no one, she dashed out and kept to the shadows of the exact same village, snaking her way through and coming out the other side unspotted. She continued running with next to no sound, constantly checking her surroundings.

Back at the Jade Palace:

Krynn was still sitting near her son's head, stroking the side in the same loving fashion as hours ago. Her voice was caught in her throat, her sobs having to be choked down.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to relax. She breathed in, but instead of another exhale, her voice came out singing with the voice of an angel.

 _October wings lament_

 _Around the castle of Dromore_

 _Yet peace is in her lofty halls,_

 _My loving treasure store_

 _Though autumn leaves may droop and die,_

 _A bud of spring are you~._

Tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes. She had to hold back another sob, and she continued.

 _Dread spirits of all black water_

 _Clan Owen's wild banshee_

 _Bring no ill wind to him nor us,_

 _My helpless babe and me~._

The tears have now begun to make streaks down her facial fur. She took many deep breaths to make sure that she didn't hiccup during this. Little did she know that Tigress and Romeo were now standing at the door, watching the scene unfold.

 _And Holy Mary pitying us_

 _To Heaven for grace doth sue_

 _Take time to thrive, my ray of hope,_

 _In the garden of Dromore~._

Viper slithered up alongside the other two, a now dreamy look on her face.

 _Take heed, young eaglet, till thy wings_

 _Are feathered fit to soar~_

 _A little rest and then,_

 _The world is full of work to do~._

A little rest and then,

She paused, seeing the three at the door. She smiled, although her tears indicated her grief. She looked back to Tiger, who was almost peaceful, if his face wasn't slightly contorted in pain.

 _The world is full of work to do~._

She finished Tiger's favourite lullaby when he was a child. The tears began to flow a lot more freely, and some even fell onto Tiger's forehead. Tiger began to breathe slightly more heavily, and began to cough. Romeo quickly ran up and turned Tiger to the side, allowing anything caught in the throat to pass up easier. When Tiger was done coughing, Romeo tried to pull him back, but decided otherwise and left him there. Krynn, unable to keep the sobbing back anymore, placed her face into her palms and sobbed into them. Tigress gently guided Krynn up and away from Tiger's room to get some fresh air.

Romeo stopped at the edge of the room and looked back to his possibly dying friend. "Don't die, my friend. The world would be a much darker place without a friend and family." He said, more to himself than to Tiger. With that, he left the room and kept the door open.

When she placed Krynn with Shifu, asking the kung fu master to help calm her, Tigress went along to the garden where she and Viper would partake in her daily meditation schedule. While it did suck that she can't do kung fu, it did become clear that doing so would mean harm to the baby. And so she agreed to this, and it was something that Po, her panda, supported with great enthusiasm.

But she can't concentrate. She was able to do so yesterday, but she can't now. And she knew the reason why. She was scared for Tiger. About whether her brother was going to survive or not.

Viper apparently caught wind of this and had to question.

"Is something bothering you, Ti? You seem distracted." Viper asked, stopping her own meditation.

Tigress growled. "It's nothing." She lied.

Viper easily saw right through it. Even a blind person could. "You're lying, and you know it, Ti. Come on, you can tell me." Viper pressed.

Tigress sighed heavily and looked at the dirt in front of her.

"It's about Tiger, isn't it?" Viper asked.

Tigress nodded solemnly.

"What about him?" Viper continued her barrage of questions.

"I feel like I barely know him. I don't know what he's done his entire life. He doesn't know what my life was like. And it's been two years since we met." Tigress explained, all in one go.

Viper slinked back, shocked at what Tigress has said.

"Maybe ask Krynn or Romeo for a part of Tiger's life they know. They could give you a bit of insight."

Tigress shook her head at that statement. Ask a person on another's life story? Stupid.

But, then again, she did do a whole lot of stupid actions two years ago. So maybe she should.

Steelmoon was dashing through the bamboo forests. They weren't what she was used to, although she was exposed to them once or twice. The trees were tall yet thin, the gaps easily seen through, yet it blinded her to all in the distance.

She felt like she was being watched.

She saw a roadblock made of sharpened logs and trunks in the distance. She only sped up, shrinking the distance between her and her destination quicker than before, and she only sped up more and more in response.

She saw the wolves that cowered behind the roadblock, crossbows ready to fire at her. She raised her shield for its original purpose. She heard the noticeable twang and kachunk of the crossbow firing, the air whistling as it was being split by the bolt, and the thunk of the bolts hitting the surface of the shield.

She only needed the smallest sliver of a sight to know how close she was to the roadblock. And she was close. Keeping her sweet momentum going, she placed her foot up onto a trunk and leapt up. She immediately inverted so she was looking down at the ugly wolves below her. She spun and landed on her feet behind the wolves.

They dropped their crossbows and drew their swords. Howling first, they charged her and more wolves leapt out of the forest and followed them. Steelmoon just stood there, her shield ready.

' _Sowero mochi te, ookami-kun._ ' Steelmoon thought.

The first wolf that came in was unlucky enough to have his arm broken in a small blur of movement before being swiftly knocked out. The rest of the pack stopped their idiotic charge, instead adopting a more cautious approach and slowly encircling Steelmoon.

' _I don't have time for this shiro chī._ ' Steelmoon thought once more.

She picked up the unconscious wolf and threw it into the crowd in front of her. When they tumbled, the assassin ran towards that gap and leapt over the group, landing on the other side of the barricade. She spied the flimsy ropes that held the barricade together. Using the shield rim, she cut the ropes that held them and kicked the logs so that they tumbled towards the wolves. It was extremely fluid, as if it was a dance.

When that was done, she threw a firecracker straight at the crowd and leapt into the dense forest. She dashed through, weaving her way through so that the wolves were out of sight. She then changed direction to the way she thought was where she was originally going. She came out the other side soon enough.

She looked skyward, now knowing that she was heading in the correct direction.

Towards where she landed. Gongmen City

She then dashed back up to speed once more. The contact isn't going to wait forever.

A ship landed at the docks of Gongmen City. And on the deck of the ship was a male raven in a kimono, a quiver of arrows on his lower back and a bow slung over his shoulder.

He has come here for a certain someone. And this has cost him his master in order to kill this certain someone for those he cared about.

He will find Mesuraion. And she will die for what she did to him.

Translations:

Sowero mochi te, ookami-kun: Bring it on, wolf-boy.

shiro chī: Idiocy


End file.
